


First Date

by milollye



Category: Tyack and Frayne - Harper Fox
Genre: Coming Out, First Dates, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-17
Updated: 2020-01-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:08:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22295341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/milollye/pseuds/milollye
Summary: After their harrowing and eventful first weekend together, Gideon Frayne and Lee Tyack take a step back to start their new relationship properly.
Relationships: Gideon Frayne /Lee Tyack
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	First Date

Gideon Frayne’s stomach was a bundle of nerves as he pulled his car out of the parking lot of the tiny little police station in Dark. He’d managed to leave on time, at least, which was itself something of a miracle, seeing as the residents of the village depended on him for everything from opening recalcitrant pickle jars to rescuing kidnapped little girls. The former he took very much in stride, just as one dealt with graffiti or teenage pranks in larger cities. Dark needed a babysitter as much as it needed a Constable, and Gideon was intensely devoted to his charges. If old Granny Ragwin needed someone to get her cat down off her roof, there was no doubt in either of their minds who she would call.

Rescuing children, on the other hand… Dark was not a stranger to legitimate crime. They got a steady run of tourists, especially in the summer, and petty robberies were common enough. Robbery, drunk drivers, old man Trewarren’s not-so-hidden crop of good Cornish weed, hell, Bill Prowse could fill an entire file drawer with his infractions, and his son Darren seemed well intent to upset that record. And even besides this, Gideon regularly picked up shifts in nearby Bodmin and Truro, both larger towns where there was a little more action. 

Even so, when Lorna Kemp been kidnapped three weeks ago, it had seriously affected him. He had felt responsible from the start, but as the weeks wore on, and the hope dwindled in Sarah Kemp’s eyes every time he saw her--it had damned near unmanned him. He had found Lorna eventually, but only with the help of… well, there was no way to sugar coat it. A  _ psychic _ . Lee Tyack had swept through town and picked up the pieces of Gideon’s life as though it had been the easiest thing in the world. Together they had found Lorna, and delivered her back to her mother safe and sound. Gideon had become a hero of sorts, though he did his damndest to tell everyone that it was all Lee’s doing.

Lee’s involvement in Gideon’s life last weekend hadn’t been purely professional, either. They had--well,  _ tumbled into bed together _ wasn’t quite the right phrasing, since a door wasn’t really a bed, though they’d stumbled along to Gideon’s bed eventually as well. They’d spent two nights together, the first Gideon had spent with anyone in more than a year, and then Lee had gotten on the bus the next morning to go home, back to his own flat in Falmouth, nearly an hour’s drive away. 

They’d texted a few times over the following week, but it had been clipped and awkward, for both of them, Gideon imagined, and hadn’t really served to deepen their acquaintance in the slightest. They had agreed to meet for dinner in Falmouth the following Friday, and then Lee would come back to spend the rest of the weekend with Gideon in Dark after.

It was, in a sense, their  _ first _ date, as they had been far too invested in the case last week to observe any such formalities. Only in their case, there was even more pressure on them than usual. Gideon  _ knew _ he liked Lee, wanted to know him even better, wanted to make sure Lee saw him as something other than a blundering oaf of a small town copper. 

He certainly didn’t have anything physical to recommend him. Gideon was big and burly, barrel chested and rough featured, with the build of a rugby player and close cropped brown hair that lay on his head like a log. Lee was…  _ pretty _ . Not pretty like a woman; that would have destroyed his entire appeal for Gideon, if he were. No, he was pretty like a man, like a  _ Cornishman _ , that is, slim and graceful without being effeminate, soft brown curls and grey-green eyes and olive skin like moonlight.

Lee was  _ beautiful _ , and he was kind and soft spoken, liked instantly everywhere he went. He would never struggle to find a date, certainly, whether he were looking for men or women. Gideon wasn’t sure if he liked both equally, or if he only went with men, like Gideon. There were a lot of things Gideon didn’t know about Lee. That was a big part of what this weekend was about, in fact. They had begun their affair in a flurry of heated passions and shared danger. Could everyday life possibly compare to that? Could  _ Gideon? _

But even that wasn’t what really set him on edge. He was thirty-five years old, and he’d known he preferred men for at least half of that. But he’d hid from that awareness, at first behind his fear of his father, the cold Methodist minister who had raised his sons under the ever-present threat of hell and damnation. He hadn’t cared what his father thought of him for a long time, or spoken to him in longer than that. He didn’t believe in his father’s God or his hell, but the fear was still there, nonetheless, and so he’d never told anyone. The world at large may have embraced gay rights, but that didn’t mean Cornwall had. The little community he lived in depended on Gideon, but he depended on them too. He wasn’t sure he could bear it if they decided they didn’t want a gay copper patrolling their streets, if they didn’t trust him anymore. If they talked about him. And Dark  _ loved _ to gossip.

He hadn’t planned on coming out at all. If anyone had asked him a week ago, he would have said he never would. And yet… one night with Lee Tyack and he didn’t care. He’d blurted it out like it meant nothing, told them Lee had spent the night with him. In Pastor Frayne’s bed, they no doubt believed. No more hiding.

It had been… freeing, in a way. No one had called him any names, not yet anyway, or not to his face. Had the town already known, or suspected, or were they just enlightened enough not to care? Or perhaps neither. Perhaps there was more backlash from his coming out that just hadn’t hit him yet. 

Perhaps. But strangely, Gideon found he didn’t much care. He did his duty by the people in his care, and if they decided they didn’t like what kind of person he asked to share his bed… well, that could bloody well be their problem. 

No, it wasn’t his spontaneous coming out that was bothering Gideon as he drove the police rover through the light rain down to the shore. He was nervous about Lee, about wanting to make a good impression. This wasn’t just  _ their _ first date, it was  _ his _ first date. His affairs in the past, few as they’d been, had been conducted in secret, in innuendo, or behind closed doors. This was different. He was taking Lee to a restaurant, buying him dinner, trying to think of interesting things to say. And he was so nervous he wanted to scream.

  
  


***

Lee sat at a back booth, hands fidgeting with his water glass. The restaurant was crowded, as he’d expected for a Friday night, and so he’d wandered over early to secure a table. He didn’t like crowds; far too much chattering, and few people were polite enough to confine their talk to their own heads. But these were mostly locals; he knew them, or he’d been around them at least, and so all their cares and anxieties faded to a low din. Not like London. London was absolute torture, and he dreaded whenever he had to go their to film. 

He took another sip of water, folding the straw wrapper in his fingers into increasingly smaller squares. He didn’t like crowds, but that wasn’t why he was nervous now. He was having dinner with Gideon Frayne.  _ More than dinner _ , he certainly hoped. It had been more last weekend,  _ oh hadn’t it just _ . He still felt weak inside just remembering. 

Like most young men who had a taste for other men, Lee expected, he’d always harbored something of a fancy for a man in uniform. It was a preference he’d never had an opportunity to indulge before, but the moment he’d set eyes on Gideon the fantasy had presented itself to him in full force. Gideon had, in that moment, been angrily evicting him from Sarah Kemp’s kitchen under charge of charlatanism. 

The appeal was more than the uniform, though. From a purely physical perspective, he would have found Gideon almost unbearably attractive in almost any clothes. He was tall and broad shouldered, well muscled and lean. He just  _ radiated _ strength, as though Gideon could pick him up and carry him without even noticing his weight. Hair short, just enough to get his fingers into. Dark eyes bright with determination.

It  _ wasn’t _ just the physical, though. Lee wouldn’t be here if it were. Generally speaking, for someone like him, affairs just weren’t worth it. It was too difficult to navigate his abilities. Men either saw him as something of a freak, and wanted him in spite of his abilities, or, even worse, they wanted him  _ because _ of them, whether that be because they thought he could give them winning lottery numbers, or just wanted their own private source of amusement. 

Gideon was different. He had trusted Lee, even when he didn’t believe it himself. He’d  _ listened _ , with the same compassion he showed his whole village full of dependents. He took care of them, and Lee couldn’t help but imagine what it would feel like to have someone take care of  _ him _ . 

He liked Gideon. Liked the way he looked, the way it felt to be with him. The way he called his dog “dog,” the way he treated everyone’s emergency as his own. He ached for that kind of companionship in his life, and never really thought he’d find it.

Lee looked up as the door opened and a cold blast of air rushed into the dining room, his stomach flopping over at the sight of Gideon Frayne. He hadn’t come in uniform, of course--Lee wasn’t sure he could have made it through dinner if he had. No, he was wearing navy blue trousers and a lighter blue button down under the heavy wool coat he shrugged off once he got inside. He’d shaved recently, probably since that morning. Lee gave a happy shiver at the thought that Gideon might have taken extra care on his behalf.

He stood up from the booth and waved Gideon over until he got his attention. Gideon smiled and headed over, but hesitated when he reached the table, as though unsure what he should do with his coat. He shifted it from his right hand to his left, and then finally laid it on one end of the empty seat across from Lee.

“Hope I didn’t keep you waiting,” Gideon said, in that low grumble that already set Lee’s blood alight.

“No, you’re early in fact,” Lee shook his head. “I just got here a little while ago to make sure we got a table.”

Gideon hesitated another moment, and Lee had this wild feeling like he might kiss him.  _ God _ , he wished he would. Anyone else he’d spent a weekend like  _ that _ with and then met for dinner a week later, Lee would have done it himself, but Lee knew how difficult this was for Gideon. He’d never come out before to anyone, except the men he’d dated, and he wasn’t entirely comfortable with being out now. Lee didn’t need to push him on it, certainly not now, when their relationship was so new. Particularly after the way Gideon’s  _ last _ love affair had ended. 

_ Shit _ , Lee thought suddenly.  _ I’m not meant to know about that _ . Probably the hardest part of being psychic, Lee had always found, wasn’t hearing other people’s thoughts; it was  _ not _ hearing them. Not stealing memories of old lovers from new boyfriends he was supposed to pick up in little bursts of confidence as the relationship progressed. It was difficult, but he did  _ try _ to stay out of people’s heads when he hadn’t been invited.

They settled themselves on opposite sides of the booth and picked up their menus. “Have you been here before?” Lee asked curiously.

Gideon shook his head. “Not me. I seldom make it beyond the Indian takeaway in Bodmin. More often than not it’s just pizza, or frozen fish fingers.”

Lee laughed out loud at this, of the idea of his big solid copper fed on kiddie food. “Like your mum made you, when you were a boy?” he asked, a mischievous glint in his eye as he picked up his water glass.

“Not in Pastor Frayne’s house,” Gideon shook his head. “Frozen food was the devil’s fare.”

Lee nearly choked on his water. “You’re not serious--?”

“No,” Gideon grinned. “I’m not. But mum was big on proper meals, and she certainly never made special food just for the kids. If you didn’t like lamb chops and asparagus, you could damn well go hungry.”

Lee smiled sadly. Gideon hadn’t said much about his childhood, but it hadn’t sounded particularly pleasant to him. “And do you?” he asked, setting his menu aside.

“Do I what?”

“Like lamb chops and asparagus.”

“Hell, no,” Gideon chuckled. “Like eating roadkill and weeds.”

“And you know this how?”

“I’ve got an imagination.”

“An overactive one,” Lee countered. “Have you ever eaten either of those things since you were a boy?”

“Nope,” Gideon said firmly. “Benefit of not living in my parents’ house anymore, I can eat what I like now.”

“You  _ do _ live in your parents’ house,” Lee reminded him. 

Gideon glowered at him but didn’t respond, just picked up his menu. “So what’s good here? This is Falmouth, so I’m assuming fish.”

“Mostly specials, whatever’s fresh,” Lee said, flipping Gideon’s menu over to the back. “Sole’s good, I’ve had that a time or two.”

“Sounds fine,” Gideon nodded, reading through the rest of the specials before he set his menu down.

Their waitress arrived a moment later, a young woman Lee knew in passing from his winter pub job, where she came in with her friends a few nights a week.

“Evening lads, what can I get for you?” she asked, flipping open her notebook. “Fancy a drink?”

“Just a pint for me,” Gideon said. “Tribute if you’ve got it.” She nodded and turned to Lee, who ordered a glass of white wine. “Know what you want to eat yet?”

“The sole, I think, and a salad,” Gideon handed her his menu. She turned to Lee. 

“I’ll have the scallops,” Lee said. “And asparagus.” He caught Gideon’s eyes then, and fought back the grin until the waitress had gone. Gideon’s eyes were crinkling with amusement as well, and the both of them barely lasted until the waitress had moved on to the next table before erupting in laughter.

“You little shit,” Gideon teased, tossing a straw wrapper at him.

“Now, now,” Lee chided him as he batted it away. “Manners, Constable.” Lee felt his chest warm, a little knot of worry he’d held all week loosening. All week he’d worried, particularly as Gideon sent back quick, one or two word responses to the few texts he’d dared to send, that their intense attraction last weekend had been just a fluke, the arousal of danger and novelty. But that just wasn’t the case. He genuinely liked Gideon, wanted to know more about him, wanted to spend time with him, and he was now pretty well reassured that the feeling was mutual.

***

Gideon was pretty sure he’d managed to sweat through his shirt by the time they got their drinks. He was far too nervous. What in the world had made him bring up fish fingers? Every word that came out of his mouth sounded more asinine than the last, and he couldn’t imagine Lee would want anything to do with him anymore by the time dinner was over. Yet there he was, chatting and bright-eyed on the other side of the table, looking for all the world as though he were enjoying himself.

Lee looked perfect, as usual, calm and collected in his worn jeans and pale blue-grey sweater that brought out the silver in his eyes. He looked confidant, as though he belonged here, not nervous about making a good impression or afraid of all the people looking on. Just out to dinner with his new boyfriend.

_ Christ _ , is that really what he was? No, not yet, surely. It was, after all, only their first date.  _ And last, at this rate _ . 

Gideon had panicked for a moment when he met Lee at the table, unsure if he should kiss him, or shake his hand, or what. Lee seemed to have been expecting something, but Gideon couldn’t make up his mind what he ought to do.  _ That _ seemed to be the theme of the entire evening. He didn’t know what to do or say, so he just rambled on pell mell, about his fat slob of a dog, or about rescuing Mrs. H’s budgie four times in one week. It was nothing anyone else wanted to hear, surely. 

When their plates arrived, Gideon glared at the asparagus on Lee’s plate. “Do you actually like that, or did you just order it to get a rise out of me?”

“Both,” Lee shrugged, stabbing a spear with his fork and biting the end off. It snapped softly under his teeth and he chewed thoughtfully. “It really is nice, when it isn’t overcooked.”

Gideon gave him a wary look. “If you say so.” 

“I do. Now, you mentioned your mum never made special food for the  _ kids _ ,” Lee reminded him. “As in plural. Siblings?”

“I have a brother,” Gideon nodded, trying desperately not to think about what Zeke would say if he could see him now. “He’s about ten years older than me.”

“That’s right, you did mention having a brother. Are you close?”

“No,” Gideon choked back a laugh. “We haven’t spoken in about ten years or so. I’m not what you’d call on terms with any of my family.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Lee said quietly. 

Gideon wanted to smack himself as Lee’s expression fell.  _ Damn it, how the hell did we get on family? I should have lied and made something else up _ . Then he remembered that it is much harder to lie to a psychic. He’d almost forgotten about the psychic bit in his nerves over the gay bit. Lee would be hearing all the idiotic things he  _ didn’t _ say, as well as the ones he did.  _ Oh fuck it all, you’re doomed, Frayne _ . 

“No, I’m not what you’d call on terms with any of my family,” Gideon tried to explain as succinctly as he could.

“Because you’re gay?” Lee asked, and Gideon had to force himself not to look around furtively to see who might have heard, and if there was anyone he knew in the restaurant. It didn’t matter. Everyone he knew would have heard by now. It was out,  _ he _ was out, and there was nothing to be afraid of anymore.

“No,” he shook his head. “That is, they don’t know that part, that I’m aware of. But they wouldn’t like it. My brother’s a minister, same as Dad.”

“Oh, I see.” 

They sat in silence for another few moments after that, though Gideon’s stomach was far too tight with nerves to actually eat anything. He cast about in his mind for topics, anything to break the awkward silence.

“Lorna’s doing well,” he said at last. “Doesn’t seem like her time in that mine has really fazed her much. Sarah’s still a mess, of course. Doesn’t want to let Lorna out of her sight, barely let her go to school.”

“I can imagine,” Lee agreed, and his grey-green eyes darkened. “That isn’t the sort of thing any parent should have to endure.”

“No, it isn’t,” Gideon agreed darkly. “She’s beyond grateful to you, by the way. Given me no end of grief about trying to throw you out of her kitchen that day.”

“I like that you did it,” Lee said. 

“Do you?” Gideon looked up, surprised. “Even though I was calling you a crook and a con artist?”

“You were just looking out for your flock, like any good shepherd. But then when I tried to tell you what I’d seen, you  _ listened _ . You thought it was all rubbish, but you listened anyway, and then you went to check it out.”

Gideon didn’t know what to say to this. He hadn’t thought of that as anything special. “No, it wasn’t--I was  _ desperate _ . I had no leads, nothing at all to work from. You could have come into town and said you’d seen Lorna Kemp’s kidnapper in a bowl of corn flakes and I would have at least heard you out.”

“Well, the traditional medium is tea leaves, but I could work with corn flakes in a pinch,” Lee teased.

Gideon snorted back a laugh. “Now I know you’re just having me on.” Lee’s grey-green eyes were dancing with amusement.

“Of course I am. Though, to be fair, I haven’t actually tried. Tea leaves, I mean. Maybe I could use that as a focus, I don’t know. It’s plausible.”

“Still trying to wrap my head around some of this, you know,” Gideon shook his head. “It isn’t that I don’t believe you--I’d be a fool if I didn’t. It’s just--.”

“I know,” Lee nodded. “It was a bit of an adjustment for me, too. Certainly wasn’t anything I ever asked for.”

“What happened?” Gideon asked curiously. “I would have thought you were just born that way.”

Lee shook his head, but something in his manner seemed to close off. “No, I was a boy, but I was aware when it happened.”

“I can’t imagine. It was hard enough realizing I was gay,” Gideon said, forcing himself to say the word out loud. It was a little easier every time he did, he found, the tight knot of worry loosening a little with each repetition. 

“How old were you?” Lee asked, pushing his plate away.

Gideon frowned, trying to remember. “Mmm--twelve, thirteen maybe? Same time I started covering my walls with posters of my favorite footballers. Absolutely no connection.”

Lee’s face lightened into a warm smile. “No, none.”

The waitress reappeared behind Gideon to collect their plates. “Want me to split the check?” she asked, glancing between the two men.

“No,” Gideon spoke up before Lee could protest. “Just give it here. My date works for free, least I can do is buy him dinner.”

“You got it,” she said. “I’ll be right back.”

“So, how old were you, then, when--” Gideon began as he turned back to Lee, but then broke off. Lee’s mouth was hanging slightly open, his eyes wide. “What? Did I say something wrong?  _ Shit _ , Lee you’ve got to tell me these things, you know I’m no good at this--”

“You just called me your date,” Lee said quietly.

Gideon didn’t understand. “You are, aren’t you?” Surely he hadn’t misunderstood that far.

“Yes, of course, but--Gid, I know how hard this is for you. You don’t have to jump in at the deep end, go straight to marching in pride parades.”

“We’ll make a deal. Next time they have one in Dark, I’ll march.”

“I’m serious, Gideon.” He was fiddling with the straw wrapper again, turning it between his fingers deftly.

“So am I,” Gideon insisted. He wished he  _ had _ kissed him when he’d come in. There was no earthly reason why he shouldn’t. He reached across the table and grabbed Lee’s hand. “Look, if there’s a parade to show how proud I am you’re willing to go out with me, that’s the one I want. I guess it’s kind of the same thing, isn’t it?”

Lee didn’t think he could stop smiling if he tried. “I suppose it is.” He squeezed Gideon’s hand, fingers tightening on the scrubbed wood surface of the table. “Gid? You get good gas mileage?”

“I came in the police Rover today, so not really,” Gideon admitted, his mouth suddenly a little dry. “But I could take my car next time I come down here, if you wanted.”

“You might have to,” Lee nodded. “I think you’re going to be making the trip pretty often.”

Gideon felt himself warm with pleasure. “Yes, I think you may be right.”

  
  



End file.
